Out In The City

23

Oct

Trade birthday: win tickets

Easily one of the most famous – and long-running gay clubs in the world – Trade will be celebrating its 23rd birthday on Saturday 2 November 2013. The afternoon/evening celebration will be taking place at Egg, near King’s Cross in London – and we have two tickets to give away to one reader to enjoy the party!

Trade began life at Turnmills in Clerkenwell back in 1990. At the time, it was truly groundbreaking. Taking advantage of a relaxation in licensing laws, and the fact that clubbers at the time were seeking late-night venues that didn’t shut their doors at 2-3am, Trade opened when other clubs closed for the night. Its seminal DJs spun music to keep the clubbers glued to the dancefloor, evolving from the tail end of the acid house explosion in the late 80s. Indeed, the atmosphere was more like an illegal rave – without the risk of being raided by the police!

The night proved an instant hit, and quickly established a loyal following of ‘Trade babies’. Although the weekly Trade nights are now a thing of the past, the club continues to throw huge occasional parties – with the birthdays always turning into legendary events. “It always seems incredible to me that we can be planning such a large scale event for Trade's forthcoming birthday after all this time,” says Laurence Malice (pictured left), the original brains behind Trade. “What I hope our loyal customers from the past and the new ones from the future realise is that the team never takes anything for granted. We have made a name for ourselves with Trade's legacy to always endeavour to deliver the best forward thinking club nights and we have really gone to town for November 2nd in terms of scale, entertainment and something different.”Steven Sharp (pictured right), who recently took on the position of Trade promoter, added: "When Laurence met with me to discuss my role as Trade's new promoter we both agreed that if you analyse what the brand was most well known for the music always came first. It broke the mould for London clubbing from its inception and raised the bar in terms of production standards with artwork, décor and feeling. Only a few clubs stand the test of time by always looking ahead and never resting on their expectations that whatever they do the crowd will always be there and follow and Trade is one of those. Nothing is guaranteed in clubland – especially in this recession – so you have to up your game with each and every event and that what we are planning with this birthday."

The Trade 23rd birthday has been themed as “A Party For All Seasons”. Running from 12noon till 12midnight, it will feature a whopping 35 different DJs. Original Trade jocks Daz Saund, Malcolm Duffy, Lisa German and Rosco Brady will head up the roster, with special support from special guest Mark Moore (of S’Express fame) and Gonzalo Rivas. “We are introducing new rooms (Trade Modern and Trade Disco),” adds Laurence, “which is exciting as we have always been about creating something new, with a nostalgic view to the past but to remain ground breaking and upfront.”To tie in with the four seasons theme, there will be four dancefloors. Other DJs on the night will include Tom Stephan, Smokin Jo, Pagano, The Men Who Fell 2 Earth, Jim Stanton, Nick Tcherniak, The Sharp Boys & Tonnic, Guy Williams, Stevie B, Ian M, Andy Farley, BK, Ross Homson and Pete Wardman. It will be followed by the Trade’s All Night Bender After Party in Egg's hidden fifth Room. The event is sure to go down as another highlight in Trade’s illustrious history. What other highlights stand out for Laurence from the past 23 years?“One night that will always be special in my heart was when Tony De Vit [who sadly passed away in 1998] played the whole night: a marathon 12-hour set! He covered the whole spectrum of what Trade musically stood for: from the beginning of the morning to the end – and the dancefloor was still at capacity at 3pm on the Sunday afternoon! He encapsulated what Trade stands for with his forward-looking approach to DJ’ing and production. I know he was a huge influence on the rest of the group of DJs and, of course, the clubbers. I still think about him every day and we are so excited that his sister Jayne will be coming to the birthday at Egg.”

Trade: The Birthday - A Party For All Seasons takes place on Saturday 2 November from midday till midnight at Egg London, 200 York Way, Kings Cross, N7 9AX. More details at www.egglondon.net or the official Facebook page here. Admission: Tickets costing £15 are now available or £15 with a Flyer B4 4pm; £18 after & £23 otherwise. Online Trade tickets available from www.moreonthedoor.com